Monday, October 16, 2006

Want to thank all the folks who send us stuff here at the MZone. Here are some of our favorites we got this weekend...

Scott sends us the picture below from the USC-ASU game. Uh...wow. Folks, this is reason enough to vote the Trojans #2 over Michigan in our Blogpoll ballot.

Will sends us this YouTube clip of Spartans proving that the term "higher education" is a misnomer in East Lansing...

Finally, DW sends us this story giving a prime example why ESPN has too much power. This Saturday's OSU-IU game will only be available on ESPNU, a premium cable service not available on many cable services. It will mark the first time in nearly 9 years a Buckeye game will not be widely available on a local network or basic cable in the Columbus area.

ESPN scheduled the game where it did in order to drive paid viewship and force the hand of companies such as Time Warner to add the channel in response to pissed off OSU fans looking to get the game. As the article even says, it's all about cash.

Look, we're no Ohio State fans here but they are the #1 team in the country and to schedule them on this bullshit channel as a negotiating ploy is a crock.

not that this could actually happen - but they should tell 'gameday' and its crew to stick it come November, with the entire free world watching the two biggest bruisers in the country pounding it out!!!

They did the same thing with ESPN Classic. They showed the best of the best when it came to classic games; big time bowl games, NCAA tourney, Super Bowls, The Miracle on Ice. Now that everyone has the station it's flooded with classic bowling and "Who's #1?" re-runs (anyone ever notice just how much filler is in that show?)

The whorish mouse will do the same thing with ESPNU. They'll practically blackmail cable companies in to carrying a FIFTH(!) Espn station by showing big time college football games, and basketball too I'm sure, then once everyone has it the station will show nothing but Division II mixed doubles tennis.

Damn dudes, that window was putting up one hell of a fight. Did they even hurt that window?!!! They didn't even crack it after that limp wristed kid tried to hit it, then the other guy tried to DDT it with his head.

I live out in Scottsdale, AZ, where the regional TV games are usually Pac-10- for example, the Saturday Night game was USC-ASU. If it weren't for ESPN GamePlan, I would not have been able to see the UM-PSU game (and Cox Cable or ESPN or somebody screwed up bigtime- the GamePlan game was ALSO USC-ASU for about 9 minutes, until someone realized the mistake and switched the feed back to UM-PSU just barely in time for the kickoff!). Aside from jacking up the price of ESPN GamePlan steadily over the past several years, they have also pulled a new trick- you are unable to DVR (TiVo) the game unless the broadcast is ALREADY IN PROGRESS. So if you go out of town, or even want to just watch the game later (those 9 AM start times can be killer) you are screwed. I can vouch that this wasn't the case the previous years.

Peckhorn, I'm an hour north of seattle and I think someone at Comcast Cable heard me swearing in downtown Seattle about having the usc game on both gameplan and regional. Plus the fact that I had to go to my ex-girlfriends to watch it because I ordered gameplan at her place was so much fun. Damnit I hate the media markets.

Agree 100% I have a few buddies that are Clemson fans...each of their last THREE games have been broadcast on ESPNU. I'd be pissed as hell, especially considering that I Clemson is a regional team (I live in Atlanta) and the ONLY way to watch the game is to see it live because none of the cable providers (not sure about satellite) even offer ESPNU.

I think that the greedy cable companies are the most culpable for depriving sports fans of ESPNU in the first place. Let's be honest here: a fifth ESPN channel is more essential than effing A&E or Lifetime!

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